There’s an old saying that kind of goes like this: Any vehicle is only as good on the road as the four tiny contact patches were its tires meet the ground. That’s the spot where everything about vehicle dynamics and tire engineering coalesces all at once. The technology that’s driven tire development over the past century looks to be advanced considerably as new, premium EVs, with unique needs for minimized rolling resistance and other tire characteristics, come into the market in greater numbers. One of those vehicles is the electric Hyundia IONIQ 5, which has prompted Hyundai to enter a three-year joint effort with Michelin to develop a new generation of efficient tires for EVs.
Executives from both transportation giants have signed a pact that will lead to creation of a specific new Michelin tire for the IONIQ 5, with real-time monitoring capability and the extensive use of environmentally friendly manufacturing materials. Advancing tire technology is critical to meet the durability requirements of tires, as well as driving performance and electric efficiency under high load as the driving range of EVs continues to increase in the coming years.
Jim Donnelly On Wheels 